


Rest of their Life

by solarpillar (solarwind)



Series: Restoration Path [1]
Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Blood, Chaos Path, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-18
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 10:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/848332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarwind/pseuds/solarpillar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He is back. Thus begins the rest of their life.<br/>(A promise is a promise. None shall live without the other.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. he's back and you remember your sin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleLinor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLinor/gifts).



The King of Bel is finally back. No, Kazuya is back. Kazuya Minegishi is back.

Abel is back.

The Overlord's human clothes were burned and torn away days ago. Divine, the scent of light coming from him, yet profane, this look of satisfied lion in his eyes and enemy blood dripping down his body. What is left of his cloak drags behind him like a serpentine shadow, almost liquid and certainly broken. And that blood coated body, so inhumanly white under that angel blood, almost like marble. The chest heaves subtly, indicating life, or at least a semblance of. Blue eyes glowing with ethereal light, like angels and like demons, and definitely like a human. The king of three realms, tiny and fragile and yet so powerful and wise.

“...back from a buffet, aren't you?” Naoya smirks. Bitterly.

“You don't what you missed, brother.” Abel smiles back. An unreadable smile.

“This.” Naoya says, simply.

He brings the king's hands to his neck, around his throat, pressing the fingers tight. Delicate hands, filthy with blood, on Naoya's clean neck. Angel blood does not rust, and it looks as fresh as ever.

As fresh as Cain's memory, still lingering despite god's death. It was as yesterday, when Abel's body lied lifeless and covered in blood, and the earth drank his blood.

And here, Abel stands before him again, covered in enemy's blood and too powerful to be hurt again. Naoya is proud.

“The curse is gone. I am mortal now. You can now have your revenge.” And, slower. “Eye for eye, brother. Eye for eye.”

And Abel collapses. Tears, human tears, wet his eyes. What he then says, Naoya cannot understand. Ancient common tongue. Naoya has lost it ages ago, when the Babel towel was stricken and mankind's tongue sundered.

But what he does know is that Abel's fingers did not tighten. Instead, they climbed, shaking, to cup Naoya's face. And then there was this kiss.

 

Thus begins the first day of the rest of their life.

 

 

_You said eye for eye, brother. But how do I ever pay back for everything you've done for me, if I take your life here?_


	2. joking around, you try to not tell him you love him

When Kazuya wakes up in the morning, in Naoya's apartment, he feels refreshed. It's the best rest he had for a while. Night in human world is much appreciated, as it is not as heavy as the demon realm's, and not as blinding as the eternal light in god's home turf. The cacophony of a regular human neighbourhood sounds soothing after endless days in constant war, after seemly endless violent songs of angels and victory cries of demons. And there was Naoya holding him as he slept, which was more than welcome. Family, at last. Demons were loyal allies, but this is his core family, his original family, the one constant family since Genesis time.

He might as well declare that it has been the best rest he has had in his life, but he knows that he is still young. He'll have as much rest as life allows. But as of now, sunlight is shining through the curtains, and it's time to rise and shine.

It's only seven in the morning. Naoya is nowhere to be seen. Something smells good in the kitchen. Kazuya makes his way there, not bothered to cover his naked body. As expected, breakfast is ready on the kitchen table, with a little note attached, addressed to Kazuya. Kazuya. Not Abel, 'my younger cousin' or 'brother'. For a while, the king is jealous of himself. He opens the note.

 

 

 

_Good morning._

 

_If you are reading this note, it means that you just woke up and I am nowhere to be seen in the apartment. It should be about seven in the morning. Do not worry. I will definitely come back in an hour or so, so why don't you sit down and enjoy the breakfast? And take a shower too; we made a mess last night. Clean the floor too if you have time. Or not lazy. You better not be lazy._

 

 

_Naoya_

 

 

 

The breakfast is strawberry waffles. It is the best food Kazuya has eaten in a while, having eaten nothing but angels and magnetite in the past few days. Cold milk is much welcome too. Blood wine was intoxicating, but actual human food... that is what human eats. The human Bel is still human.

Next, once Kazuya is full and satisfied, comes the very human responsibility of housechores. He doesn't usually mind, but that is a mess. Angel blood everywhere, from the entrance to bedroom. In the kitchen too, since he just ate there without taking a shower first. He is positive that Naoya at least wiped his kingly body last night, but there was just too much blood. And angel blood is hard to clean. He's not going to lick the place clean, that's for sure, and not going to just wipe them off like common dirt. These angels fought well too, and therefore deserve some respect.

Kazuya focuses. “Drain.”

It works moderately well. Drain absorbs life and magic, and angel blood is both of these. However, Drain pulls from a focused source, and blood is smeared in flat spots. The only way to make it work is to Drain continuously and move as if passing an invisible vacuum cleaner. Kazuya cleans the walls and floor this way, and takes a break before doing the same with the bedsheets and other places with smears. No way that he's going to walk to the laundry with a basket full of bloody sheets. He isn't creative enough to lie through that. What would the neighbours say, anyway?

_Murder! Bloody murder! Save me!_

Sounds plausible.

_Oh, my, played a bit too hard didn't you? Whose blood is that? You don't seem wounded... Goodness, you didn't go too hard on your cousin, did you?_

Um. Sounds like what Loki might say.

_Is that for some art photo shooting? Or just paint?_

Not sure there are enough artists in this building.

It's probably for the best that he cleaned the blood with Drain. Power is a wonderful thing. He can already imagine other practical applications. Cooking with Sodom Fire. Chill drinks with Bufu. Blow hair dry with Zan. Light fireworks with Agi on summer beaches...

It's then that Kazuya realizes that it's already September 12th. School has started without him. He hadn't gone to the pools with Atsuro and the rest yet. But first, a shower. And put some clothes on. Knowing Yuzu, she'll be there shortly after Atsuro, and Kazuya doesn't want to come home just to get arrested for public nudity.

It's almost eight. Naoya will be back soon, and no doubt Atsuro and Yuzu will arrive with him. Everything will be alright.

Everything.

Will.

Be.

Alright.

A sharp pain courses through Abel. _Everything will be alright_ , someone has once told him. _Everything will be alright_ , someone once told him before a pair of too familiar hands closed around his neck. Everything will be alright, someone once told him before his head hurt and blood blinded his eyes. Naoya did not say _Everything will be alright_ , but he did say _Do not worry_ , which was the same in ancient common tongue. But he also said that he will definitely be back around eight, and Cain isn't the type to go back on his promise, not after the first Abel incident. Yet this uneasy feeling won't go away. Cain is mortal now. If he dies now, the last human family of Abel would be gone. Kazuya has his parents, but they aren't Abel's. Kazuya has friends, but they aren't Abel's. The King of Bel has subjects, but they are Bel's, not Abel's. And even if they do become Abel's, they will die before Abel can even grow old.

The crown of Bel is a curse similar to Cain's curse, is it not? He'll live forever. He'll remember everything, when everyone else has forgotten. Humans he loves will die, gods he loves will enter eternal slumber as they are abandoned. Eventually, the world itself would die, and he would live on as a false god, unable to pass on. Unless... he resets the world before that. Reset. _Come. Tear this world down. Reset._

The doorknob turns, and Naoya enters. Alone.

“...Qayin?”

“I'm glad that you're not saying my name in ancient common tongue this time, Hevel. I have lost that since the first Babel. You're starting to remember, which is a good sign. Your soul is restoring.”

“And that is...” Abel points at the things in Cain's hands. “I don't have to die again, do I?”

Naoya chuckles. “Nonsense. These are binding spells. If you're going to live in human world, you're going to need it. You wouldn't want to squish Atsuro and Yuzu into flesh pulp from one hug too enthusiastic, would you?”

Abel grimaces. “What about the harmonizer?”

“Needs too much energy. As your mastermind, I would like to suggest using that energy for post-war reconstruction. What do you think, O King of Bel?”

“My dear Royal Adviser, I think that is an excellent idea. Let's make a cottage built from nothing but pancakes in Elysian Fields and live on stray muscular heroes lured by the scent.”

“Pancakes? You are not my brother until you agree that we build a mobile fort like a cyperpunk version of Howl's Castle.”

“Agreed. You may now kiss my hand.”

And Naoya does. He knees before his brother, holds the extended hand like a subject would to a king, and kisses where rings should be. With each kiss, the binding spells swirl and dance until they settle down, shaped like silvery metal bands, yet feel like silk to the skin.

“Do I want to know what they are made of?” Abel flexes his fingers, and doesn't feel bind.

“Sure. The sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain...”

“Oh, please! Do I look like a big bad wolf to you?”

There was a flash of emotion in Naoya's eyes that made Abel regret making that joke. But it was gone just as fast, as if it was never there.

“You don't,” Naoya says, but it came out like a lie. “However, that spells do contain the sound of a cat's footfall, to make it flexible and comfortable. The beard is from Eve, our first mother. The roots are from the mountain where the Cave of Treasure was, where your first human body was buried after it was found. And the last ingredient... is this.” He takes a strand of his own hair. “Hair of Cain, with a trace of his mind and memories.” He lets the strand of hair down, and absentmindedly brushes it. “But that was all formality. The spells themselves are just spells. Data.”

Abel stares at the rings. They are pretty. Yet the uneasy feeling still won't go away. Something is off. But what?

Cain loves Abel. Would always try to protect Abel, no matter what. To give Abel a good life.

Cain asked Abel to kill him last night.

“Qayin?”

“Yes?”

“When were these spells made?”

Naoya is silent.

“Your King is asking you a question, Qayin. When were these binding spells made?”

“...Your Majesty. They were finished two nights before your triumphant return.”

“And where were they, after their finishing and before today? Why did you have to go out to fetch them?”

“...They were in Atsuro Kihara's hands. I had to get the spells from him.”

“For what reason, Atsuro Kihara cannot come and meet me himself?”

“Really, brother. Sometimes I wish I did not raise you to be this smart.”

“Your King is asking you a question!”

Naoya chuckles. “King? I am a man who dared going against god himself. Do you think that I would fear a king? And said king is my little brother, no less. The same little brother that I have murdered with my own hands ages ago, and many times at that. How about a little game again? Catch me, and you get your answers.”

And with that, Naoya escaped.

“...I hate when he's tsun,” Kazuya mutters to himself.

In the bedroom, the neglected COMP beeps, announcing oncoming email.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sound of cat's footfall, the beard of a woman and roots of a mountain are allegedly the three first ingredients to Gleipnir, the third and final bound to Fenrir.
> 
> Qayin and Hevel and other forms of Cain and Abel.


	3. it was a promise, and you haven't forgotten

Naoya walks into the Shomonkai headquarter. Immediately, he is met with greetings.

“Naoya!”

“Lord Naoya.”

“Welcome back, Cain.”

Naoya shakes his head. “How is the program, Atsuro?”

Atsuro sighs. “Not good, not good. I'm not you, how can I even write anything like this? Not to mention what you asked me to hack into...”

“Oh? Have I overestimated my most brilliant student?”

“Naw...I-I don't know, alright?”

“Something the matter?”

“Well... we are going to have to kill them first, aren't we? The most efficient method known is akin to how human souls are treated. However, wouldn't this make the soul even more tainted? Yet when it comes back up, it's somehow cleaner.”

“Shows how filthy they are.”

“Cain, please,” Amane interrupts, “Remiel is right here.”

Naoya glares right into Remiel's face. “Remiel. Your mercy makes me sick. I would not hesitate to rip out your soul when the rest of your brethren is done with.”

 

\--

 

Kazuya has no idea where Naoya might be. He should be done with the Shomonkai, so probably not there. Not to mention that Remiel is back to Amane's side, and they would be there. Naoya hates angels.

First, call Atsuro.

“Kazu-Kazu?”

“Atsuro, is Naoya with you?”

“Hahaha! First time we talk after so long and you ask me about Naoya's whereabouts? Kazu, I knew you felt that way about him too. No, he isn't. He just left.”

Kazuya has to explain that he's worried about Naoya because of the latter's suicidal tendencies lately.

“Really?” Atsuro asks. “He seems as lively as usual... Man, I wish I could read him as well as you do. You're his cousin, after all. Wait. Kazu, can you explain me the entire Abel business? Naoya mumbled about you having the 'soul of Abel' or something like that. And Amane calls him Cain. Like the murderer from Genesis. You two are supposed to be reincarnations?”

How to explain? Abel is... technically dead. Abel is a memory. Yet Abel is alive too, as an aspect of the current King of Bel. Of Kazuya. It's complicated.

 

It wasn't complicated, back then. Cain took Abel by hand, and Abel followed. Cain was beautiful. Lustrous. Cain worked hard. Cain took care of the family. Cain was loving, if not ill-tempered and jealous. Like little lambs followed Abel, Abel would follow Cain. Anywhere. Never far. Always together. It was a promise.

Then, one day, Cain took Abel to the field and cut open Abel's throat. Like how Abel killed the lambs that followed him, Cain killed Abel that followed him.

Others have read it as jealousy. Abel knew better. It wasn't because god didn't love Cain. Cain murdered Abel because Abel betrayed him. Because, for the last time of Abel's first life, Abel did not stand by Cain's side, but sided with god instead. Cain was not jealous of Abel, but of god.

But a promise was a promise. Abel never left Cain's side for long. The soul became seeds, and the first seed became Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, hoping to find Cain in their old home. But Cain has already left. Seth waited and waited, but Cain never came home. Seth died of old age, and Cain was finally allowed to settle down.

Then Cain had a son, his first son, and it was none other than Abel's soul in the child. Cain loved the child. He named his son Enoch, and built a city for him. Whether Cain knew about the soul or not, Abel did not know. But Cain's love was the same as he'd always have known, so he did not say anything, and enjoyed it.

Eventually, Cain died of old age. Enoch, too. They were born anew, and were brothers again. Then sisters. Then cousins and neighbours and friends and enemies. They were always born in a way that they will meet and share their life together, as if their souls gravitate around each other, are pulled in by each other. Even if Cain kills Abel or Abel kills Cain, the next time they are born, they are close again.

 

A promise was a promise. Is still a promise. Abel will never leave Cain's side. Even if Abel tries to leave, Cain will follow. Vice versa. None will live without the other.

 

What Kazuya ends up saying is much briefer. “We are. We promised to be together. Even death will not stop us.”

 

\--

 

Yuzu is surprisingly not having any trouble, which probably means trouble, considering whom she is fighting against. A high-levelled Tyrant class demon, running away from a regular human girl? Even with VIP grade COMP, this is fishy. Loki shouldn't be scared of her. Those fake screams of terror confirm it. But he is so close, just a little bit and...

 

Wham.

 

That's not Loki.

 

“Kazuya?!”

“Hey, Yuzu.”

 

\--

 

_The brothers rolled in the field, grass blades broken under their weight and smeared their tanned skin green. Cain's hair was as if glowing in the early afternoon sun. They touched their lips together in an imitation of their parents, paused as they stayed together, wet and warm, as if sharing the last breath of air in the world. They opened their eyes and all the could see were each other. Cain's eyes were green. Abel's eyes were blue. Like forest like water, like field like sky._

“ _Together,” they promised, “we are going to share our breath till the end of the world.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I bullshited about their promise. It was not in the game and not in any version of Bible or equivalent that I have read. However, in Chaos Human Path, Naoya did say something like "I'm lucky to have you, with the soul of Abel, by my side... through all ages." Hinting that they were always together in one way or another? It's kind of sad, but the bitterness probably had a sweet lining to it, at least...


	4. by our mutually bloodied hands we swear

“Well, well, isn't that the ever-young King of Bel?”

“Loki.” Kazuya helps Yuzu up. “What are you up to?”

“A-haha! I would like to talk, but little lady here isn't happy with that. So, buh-bye for now, King Abel!”

With that, Loki warped away.

Kazuya turns to Yuzu, who turns away.

“Did Naoya say something to you?” Kazuya asks.

“H-how did you know?”

Kazuya smiles. “I know my cousin well.”

Yuzu sighs. “Well. He told me that Loki must be kept away. Quote 'The current development should not change,' unquote. But never mind that now, you're back! I can't believe it! You still look the same too!”

Yet Yuzu is keeping her distance. There's something like fear in her eyes, and the way her legs seem to be ready to take her away as fast as possible.

“Is something the matter?” Kazuya asks, worried.

“N-no! Nothing! Nothing at all! Gee, you sound like Naoya sometimes.”

But the fear in her face intensifies. Kazuya takes a step forward. She takes a step backwards, almost by instinct. It must take her a lot of willpower to not turn and run away, judging her expression. She almost screamed.

Kazuya then realised that she's not the only one. People – humans – are running away from him. As if he is a monster. He doesn't understand. He looks at his hands. They look human enough. Feet, still human. Clothing, normal. He touches his own face, and there aren't scales or anything. He should be human in appearance. He isn't frowning, or grinning.

“Ka-kazuya. B-behind you.”

He looks back. That's not a human shadow. Shadows. Hundreds of them, cast from invisible light.

\--

Holy light is upon the world again. Not of god, but angels. Thousands of them. Falling like dead stars, yet their light continue to burn as they crash without upsetting even a single grain of dust, their invisible light harsh to those who can see, their blood and open wound fragrant yet revolting.

Naoya cuts them open and pulls out their souls. Keeps them in a little basket. Harvest.

Not all angels fall on earth. Some fall farther, into other worlds. Some fall into the netherworld.

Most, if not all of them, are still alive.

“Brother,” Naoya sighs, muttering to himself, “you have been too merciful.”

Next to him, Atsuro and Amane are preparing the souls for their next life.

\--

Yuzu is silent in the way to the Shomonkai facility. Her heart beats so harshly, though, that Kazuya wants to warp his arms around her to calm her down and tell her that it's alright. Her hair is a mess and she does not bother to tie it back up, her knees scratched and bruised and she pays them no mind, her scars from the Lockdown visible on her skin and she makes no attempt to conceal them. Her heart beats so harsh and so fast, her blood vessels almost popping and sweat is running down her neck, yet she walks in a such a calm and seemly careless way. She's become strong. She's become lovely. _Lovelier_. She is a war veteran and a normal girl coexisting in a single body, mind and soul, harmoniously. And she is so _human_. She is not a goddess or angel or any of these mummified concepts, but a human, complex and humble, proud and powerful, fragile yet, like a willow, would bend but not break.

Yuzu is no princess. Yuzu is a knight. His knight.

“Yuzu?”

“Yes?” Her voice is trembling, yet strong.

“What do I look like, right now?”

“You-” She hesitates, not in the way people do when torn between lying and telling the truth, but in a way that people do when they are not sure what they are seeing. “Your body looks the same, I guess.”

Kazuya nods, inviting her to continue.

“But... there's such a... horribleness... something like a bad memory about you... I'm not sure how to say...”

Kazuya's eyes widen. Bad memory?

“Oh! No! It's not like we have bad memory about you! It's like... How to say... like the kind of uneasiness when one's looking at a mutilated dead body or something. Not that you are one, of course.” She scratches an old scar dangerously close to her neck, sighs, before waving both of her arms and wears the best of her smile. “But the old you is still here, so don't you worry about it! The old Kazuya will always be, right? The Kazuya that promised to protect me with Atsuro, the Kazuya who liked to bring food to his cousin Naoya, the Kazuya who liked petting Atsuro and the Kazuya who told me that I fit right in with the classy people and who promised to go shopping with me and go to Haru's concert with me. Speaking of Haru, she's going to sing at Gin's bar this Sunday! Wanna come?”

She's almost jumping up and down at this point, despite her fear still lingering beneath that smile. Kazuya can't help but notice that this Yuzu so much like Atsuro, who did the same during the Lockdown to keep them relaxed, keeping his smile to not make Yuzu worried, who thought he had her fooled. As if a little girl who grew up with constantly fighting parents could not tell a fake smile from a real one. Atsuro can be so naive, at times.

“Yeah,” Kazuya says, putting on a sincere smile, “let's go together. Atsuro and Naoya should come too. Remind me on Saturday night, would you?”

“Sure! Let's invite Amane too, she totally needs that power of rock! Not that she isn't strong, but she can do with more emotions, you know. Isn't it tiring to be a maiden? She should have some fun, too.”

Kazuya chuckles. “Next, let's drag Amane and Naoya to amusement parks. These two really need to loosen up a bit.”

“Who did you say need to loosen up a bit, dear brother?”

Kazuya thought he was going to have a heart attack.

\--

_Abel remembers his own mutilated body. He was Amanda then, playing in the wilderness when she came across the body of a young male wrapped and carefully stored inside a cave. She removed the hardened fabrics with her tiny hands, stripped it naked and stared into the hollowed eyes of her past self. No. That is not her past self. It's just a shell, empty and dead, a familiar dent in the bone of the neck._

_A noise made her turn. Her sister Ana, standing by the entrance, whose foot just snapped a dry twig and whose face twisted as if seeing a ghost._

_Amanda remembered all then. She held Ana's hand and told her that she forgives her, that she does not hate her for it, and wants to stay with her, to be by her side and on her side, to live together as family as always._

_Yet when Ana tried to open a gate to the demon world, angels came to Amanda, and Ana died by Amanda's hands. It was messy. She was unable to cradle it the way Cain did to him, so much she was in pieces._

_Hypocrisy runs in the family, it seemed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to Behind the Name database, 'Amanda' means "worthy of love" and 'Ana' appears briefly in the New Testament belonging to a prophetess who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. I love giving ironic names to characters, does it show?


	5. that as long as our many names are spoken

Abel was kind. Abel was merciful. Abel, facing death, let it happen, mourning only his murderer's loss of innocence.

The King of Bel is kind. The King of Bel is merciful. The King of Bel, for his love for his human murderer, destroyed his god and lamented for no one.

The King of Bel remembers, in a time that is both before and after Abel's ephemeral life, a god of sun and fertility, the beloved son of El, the king of gods.

He remembers a lover. Beautiful. Virgin. Belligerent. Chaotic. Yet devoted, and her love was great.

The King of Bel remembers, in another time, before this world, in the union of fire and ice, on branches and roots of the great ash tree, a beloved god, son of the king of gods, his face radiant like the sun.

He remembers a tiny plant, too young to know anything, that has pierced his heart.

The King of Bel remembers many lives. Some of men, some of gods. All of them died. Even Kazuya, in a way.

The King of Bel remembers that every time he died and his blood spilled, his dead blood called for vengeance.

But for the first and only time, he has it, by his own hands.

The King of Bel is grateful.

The god is broken.

The light of god became one with the angels, and the angels fell.

The biggest, the bright Metatron, fell far, far away.

The second, the Demiurge, fell closer, but right past the earth, into a universe still unsponsored.

The third, the Ancient of Days, was sent flying above the horizon, and into a small piece of void.

And all the others fell like heavy rain, to where, the King has lost track.

He didn't know they were still alive. Had he knew, he wouldn't have done anything, either. He didn't believe soldiers deserved to die for the fault of a leader. Naoya told him that angels had no free will, but if so, why had the Thunder of Remiel never fallen on earth, when Remiel returned to Silver City before Metatron's descent? Why so much dissent among them? Why Lucifer, why the Rebellion, why some calling god lenient and some want more mercy? If god was of order and wanted uniform peace and goodness, why creating them all so differently?

And mercy. Why had Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael not scorched the earth, even after Metatron's summon? Because the summon failed? Or was it the mercy of god? Perhaps god has indeed showered mankind with his love and mercy. Perhaps the heavens did indeed work for humanity's sake. But to torment mankind when mankind is already suffering from the consequences of their choices, the King could not accept. To refuse to acknowledge change, to see each individual as only wholly good or wholly bad, that Kazuya cannot accept.

He has for cousin a jerk with a heart full of love and kittens, after all.

 

\--

 

"... saving angels?"

"Their soul, to be precise."

Kazuya looks at the souls. They are full of light, like themselves, and like that harsh battlefield and the god that waited for his arrival, and the execution that followed. Baneful light, orderly light, righteous light, intolerant light, harsh and cruel yet merciful light. The same light, so familiar, so filthy to his eyes of darkness, yet bittersweet for his human heart.

Not too different from a pious man's soul, these souls filled with light.

"Say..." Yuzu chances.

"Go on." Naoya nods.

"What if they turn out like Keisuke in the lockdown?"

They all stays silent for a while. It's not even a possibility. It's going to be kismet.

Naoya breaks the ice. "We can always destroy them. Drown them in darkness until they completely snuff out."

"Would that help?" Kazuya doubts.

"No." Naoya confirms. "They'll simply turn into demons, which also torment mankind."

"So we are stuck with them." The King is displeased.

"Yes. And we are not even going to smash them into tiny pieces, just in case they turn out like parasitic prions." Naoya gestures at his student. "Atsuro, show him."

 

The purification chamber is an awkward combination of music lab and sci-fi bio lab. Emphasis on awkward. It's like the room glitched upon loading.

 

"The Shomonkai... is beginning to lack funds ever since the lockdown incident." Amane explains. "Many sued."

 

 _Does that include sanity_ , Kazuya thought, but couldn't say it. Of course they simply forewent all the steps that involved an interior designer, and said interior designer. The equipment do look expensive, but many seem to be moved from other branches of Shomonkai.

 

The purified souls look like immaculate, colourless glass.

 

Amane joins in admiration. "Chaos souls darken. Lawful souls brighten. Souls gain many colours with virtues and sins. But the blank state is this." She presses her hand against the tank glass. "Full of potential. Like us, doesn't it?" She lets down her hand, and gazes into the King, Kazuya's eyes. "Mankind will no longer be purified by the fires of hell or the lightning of heavens. Mankind will be our own purification. And when we are pure, we can fill us with colours of kindness."

 

The King looks from above, from the eye of the sky, into the mess of colours and shades and hues that makes into a noise-like grey on that planet so blue, and imagines a field of stars.

 

\--

 

_The hill was lonely. The king was lonely. The king made love with his sister, and stayed lonely. In the morning he would exile his sister, and he would be lonelier._

_The sister whispered a secret in the king's ears. It would haunt him for the rest of his life. He held his sister closer, carefully, as if she was made of smoke. He asked her to love him, to love him as if he would die. He knew he would die. He would die without a tomb, without legacy, and his flesh would be fed to dogs, his bones to vultures. All mortals die, and his would come sooner than most. His statues would be smashed, his tomes grind into ash, his servants killed and his castle razed. No trace would be left of him, except in soul and in one single person's memory, and the endless eyes of immortals, and the hills that would speak no more._

_She held him in her arms and sang to him, one song after another, in language long forgotten, of names long unspoken._

_In the morning she was exiled._

_In time, the King sang the forbidden song, and beasts ate him, and his enemies too. It was a mess of eating until one being was left, and it threw itself into the pyre prepared for the shepherd king._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end part (what was the term for it again?) should be somewhat familiar to fans of ancient Mesopotamian mythology of over 6000 years ago, without being carbon copy of a pre-existent story. In other words, I made it up. also I'm not sure if there are bearded vultures (the ones eating the bones) in ancient Mesopotamia. Let's say that they are some pets of kings. I'll also leave it ambiguous to as if the sister was Cain or Loki or Anat or Inanna or someone else, but it's someone who knew all of the shepherd king's names, and knew terrible magic. 
> 
> It was not obvious, but the beast was implied to be something along the line of Tao Tie, the fiend of gluttony in the shape of a sheep with a man's face.
> 
> If I don't drag this on, this fic should end in two more chapters. It would end with their promise in the title.


	6. as long as our many names are remembered

In days of old, before Cain and Abel, before Adam and Eve, there was a farmer and a shepherd, Enkimdu and Dumuzid. Inanna loved the former, who was soft-spoken and kind, reliable and devoted. The shepherd argued, and Inanna married the latter.

Naoya doesn't remember that life. He is Cain, not Enkimdu, though both suffered from a vain and arrogant shepherd.

“I will be cultivating these souls,” he says to the king, “you will be their shepherd, yes?”

Kazuya chuckles. “They aren't sheep.”

“As good as sheep. They are dumb little things.”

The king laughs, and takes his brother's hand. The hypnotizing smell of angels begins to fill the room, but that is alright. He is with his brother, no, cousin, and they are invincible together. His eye begins to see stars going supernova all over the field, near where they are, but that is fine. More food. And this time, Naoya can partake too. He will gut them and chop them and feed them to his brother, both brother for each other.

“They've found us.” Kazuya casually mentions, confident that Naoya already knows.

“Of course,” Naoya says, barely nodding, “You are like a big blot of black on an otherwise light brown cardboard.”

“As if you aren't too,” the young king retorts.

“I'm hidden. You, on the other hand,” he says as he traces the silvery bands on each of the king's fingers, “still needs to work on subtlety.”

The eye of the sky blinks. The area is becoming brighter.

“Angels do not have a will of their own.” Naoya continues, fingers wandering up, tracing the side of Kazuya's arm, “All they do is to carry out their Lord's will, and that, with their Lord's absence, can be only one thing left.”

“Vengeance.” Kazuya lets the fingers travel further up, on the curves of his shoulder.

“Exactly. Not too different from the Bel fragments, to be honest.” The fingers are on Kazuya's neck, up, pushing Kazuya's hair away.

“Or from human beings. We all carry out each other's will.”

Naoya pauses at these words. “Kazuya. You don't want to become one with me, do you?”

Kazuya opens his mouth. Naoya interrupts him in panic.

“A rhetoric question,” the older brother says, “what I mean is, like Bel demons seeking to restore themselves to their former glory and slay their killer, the angels are doing the same, seeking to regroup and restore their Lord, and erase their Lord's killer.”

“How are they going to do that?” the younger brother asks, pressing his neck against his brother's hand, “Are they going to fight for the godhead too?”

“Of course not. The angels are highly hierarchical. The highest rank will begin to identify as god, and the lower ones will be absorbed.” Naoya is caressing Kazuya's neck. “Usually it would be Metatron. But you sent him flying like I told you to, did you not?”

“I did.”

“Demiurge?”

“Same.”

“Ancient of Days?”

“As well.”

“The archangels?”

“They fell like rain, away from here. Same with many others. Only smaller pieces fell here.”

“Good.” Naoya stops his caress. “I have an idea of who it might be then.”

“Naoya?” The king is unsure.

Naoya wraps his fingers around the brother-king's neck, tightens as if to strangulate. “I wish you have chosen to take my life back then, the night of your return.”

The light of the area seems to gather and flow to a single point, right inside the lab.

“I will not give you to them.” Naoya screams, both hands on the king's neck. “For my sake, please resist-”

A smell all too familiar fills the young king's nostrils. Unpleasant yet almost nostalgic smell.

  
There is a hole where Naoya's heart used to be.

  
The pulp of what was once Naoya's heart splattered all over the king's chest.

  
And behind Naoya, the unfamiliar figure of Remiel, not in Amane's body, but in that of a winged humanoid being, masculine and blank.

  
“Young king who was once Son of Man,” says an unfamiliar yet familiar voice, still monotone, more masculine than when he was in Amane's shell, “hast thou accepted to become the new vessel for god's will?”

 

\--

 

_Somewhere, a little shack sat atop a mountain, where a locksmith lived. Outside the shack, overlooking the valley, was a fence atop a cliff. Couples from all over the world traveled to this place, asked for a lock, and locked their names together atop the mountain. The key to the lock was then destroyed, leaving the names locked together forever._

_It was said that as long as the names are locked together here, the souls will stay together, and not even death will do them part._

_A young man came here alone. The shack was empty, and an older man was looking at the locks._

_The shack stayed empty for years, but not that night._

_No new lock was made, but a promise was._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The locks... I think it's somewhere in China? Or maybe Switzerland. A place with mountains.


	7. we will protect our children for the rest of their life

The king cradles the body of his cousin, eyes on the blood that would not stop flowing. His hands are not trembling, for he has seen worse than this.

The angels line before him, surround him, Atsuro and Amane sealed at their feet. This is so eerily familiar to the king. Uniforms and rags flash in his mind, both human and not. He has been on all four sides, the soldier and the hostage, the trapped fighter and the cradled body. He remembers holding his brother as bandits torched the hamlet, he remembers being held as his brother slips a dagger in his heart as mercy kill. He remembers trapping his brother and throwing him a sword for an easy way out. He remembers being the hostage that his brother did not beg to release, instead ended with his own hands. He remembers all roles, as lover or mother or child or stranger, shared by them through the ages, where now and then Cain would rebel for a way out only to be locked down and tortured until Abel agrees to the temptations of angels.

And the final choice was always Abel's, never Cain's.

“Well? We await your answer, Son of Man.”

Son of Man. The angels were not calling him that during the war.

“You promised him, too.”

_It was atop a mountain. China, or maybe Switzerland. Or perhaps even a domain removed from human world. The air was rare but fresh. A little shack was there and, next to it, a little fence covered in old but still solid locks._

“Shut up.” The king grinds his teeth, stopping the vision.

“What is it? For once, the Sinner was selfless. Keeping this promise is what we all want.”

“Shut up, you and your temptations, what he wanted was n-”

_A young man came alone. He could speak several languages, and his eyes betrayed the age of his soul. He had a wicked smile, but there was love and compassion in that smile, inseparable from the evil of his eyes._

_Abel was looking at the locks._

“Do you remember now? It's what he has wanted then. What we all want. A bright future for the children, free from wars and sins. Come back to the light of God, and you shall grant his wish as well.”

  
 _You. You_. Angels have always used _thou_ and _thee_. What is meaning of the sudden respect?

The angels, lesser ranked ones, are beginning to collect the filtered light from the machines. They don't use them themselves, of course, but instead feed to the higher ones first, and then themselves. And by then there's little left. They let the machine run and add more souls, human souls rather than angel, and collect the light like honey.

“You killed him.” The king glares at Remiel, holding the body closer as if to keep it warm and safe. “You are a murderer.”

“Murderer? Watch your tongue, child, an angel does not murder. An angel is justice. He was a sinner, and by mercy, I have released him from his punishment.”

“Mercy? Now?” The king laughs in mockery. “I am now immortal. He is immortal. We can finally share our life, and now you release him?”

“Child.” The angel is unfazed. “Men are not meant to be immortal. Not after the original sin. I have, by mercy and love, released him from punishment and further sin. If you wish for immortality, then it will be given, once the sin has been washed away from the souls of men. Now, it is up to you to choose.”

“Choose? Where are the choices?” The king is almost screaming.

“You can reject our offer, and mankind will never be saved. Or, you can embrace your identity as Son of God, give your power over demons to the Lord, and use yourself as a vessel for Him. Then, your friends will use the machine to cleanse the souls of men, cleaner than the tainted flames of hell can do, and once mankind is pure again, they shall eat the fruit of life.

“However, becoming the vessel will mean death for a Son of Man. But this is what you want, isn't it? You will have given up your immortality, and your soul will return to cycles of reincarnation along with your brother, unburdened by memories, and live peacefully as mortals as Sons of Man should be.

“I promise as an angel of God: should you choose to return to the light of the Lord, you will be allowed good life. So will mankind, allowed to laugh and labour. All under love and guidance of God.”

The king gives out a brief but loud manic laughter, and falls to silence again. The angels wait unmoved until the king reaches for the bands.

“A warning, Son of Man: unleashing your full power will destroy this world.”

Kazuya laughs again, and kisses each of the bands. “Mind and memories. This is what is left of Cain. What I am holding of Cain. He gave me a piece of his soul.”

“What can you do with but a fragment? Cain is already waiting to be born anew. Samarecarm will not work.”

A smirk. “I am not trying that.”

He holds out one hand like Naoya used to before their games, and shook the programmer's haori with the other.

One must never underestimate how much of an over-prepared nerd Naoya was. Hundreds of COMPs fell out, along with endless supply of candies and snack sausages. Also napkins and paper tissues, both used and unused. And candy wraps. Sausages wraps. Paper tissue plastic wrapping. Paper tissue boxes, cubic and rectangular, opened and unopened. Unopened instant noodle in cups and bowls. Opened and unopened boxes of wagashi and chocolate and other confectioneries. Packs of instant coffee. Packs of instant hot chocolate. Packs of tisane and tea. Washed and unwashed socks, in zip-lock bags. Pen-shaped stain remover for silk and polyester...

But they did come, the legions of Cain. Over half of the COMPs were still linked to Babel, and demons poured out from them.

“Halt!” the angels scream, “We still have your friends!”

“As if you'll have time for that.”

In a swing of sword, the closer, slower angels fell, sliced into many pieces by a single swing. In a second swing, from the other edge, the seal on the king's friends are removed.

“Get up and fight!”

He didn't even have to say that. Atsuro jumped right back up in panic scream, smashing and missing the nearest angel. Amane summons fire as she rises, setting lesser angels' feathers aflame. And Yuzu, the fiery Yuzu, screams and fights like a girl: pulls and tears and don't stop until her victims are nothing but splatters of blood mixed with small pieces of unidentifiable objects, and for a moment Kazuya was reminded of Sekhmet in full blood-lust.

The angels flee. They knock against walls at first, unused to physical bodies, before phasing through them and scatter.

Yuzu lets go of a very bloody piece of angel. Atsuro sighs and sits. Kazuya picks up a snack sausage, unwraps, and bites down. Still fresh. He offers the pile to his friends.

“Ew, like, there's still blood on them!” But Yuzu takes one anyway.

“Are we really eating off a dead body?” But Atsuro takes one anyway too.

“I'm mostly vegan, but today I'll make an exception.” Amane isn't afraid of a little blood on her snack either.

“The wagashi is vegan.” Kazuya points out.

“You aren't Buddhist enough.”

  
But it turns out to be a veggie sausage anyway.

 

 

_See you soon, brother. We are going to share our breath till the end of the world and more._

 

\--

 

_Enough about these lectures. How about we change the kind of promise we make for once?_

_Like?_

_We'll be together, and meet again, yadayada, that's for sure._

_Mh-hm?_

_But let's promise another thing..._

_I'm listening..._

_Forget about us. Let's make the children happy and free for the rest of their life._

 

_\--_

  
“Oh. I almost forgot...” Atsuro searches in his bag, and pulls out a memory stick. “Naoya told me to give this to you after his death. He told me to tell you to... curse him again? But only if the angels aren't dealt with.”

Kazuya uploads its data to Babel. The familiar architecture of Curse of Cain surfaces, echos of his own dying cry between the lines.

“He said, 'If possible, leave out the part about the plants. And maybe use your own name instead of God's.'”

“As if I'm going to use any other than my name for this.”

The king chants, spell dancing around the silver bands of his finger, before they swim away to join the core. The king's eye follows, and watches as they cross the ocean.

“What now?” Yuzu's head is down, but there is no sight of tears. “Naoya's gone, and there's so many things that I haven't ask him yet...”

“He'll be back.” The king traces the brim of the first band. “And, in the meantime, we will make the best of our life, as much as possible.”

There will be angels to hunt, demons to catch, seals and barriers to put up.

But they will be fine. Amane is already rallying the rest of the Shomonkai, regrouping them.

“Let's go to the pool, Atsuro.”

They will start to live the rest of their life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyhow, that's the end of this fic, after that last part added. See you in my other fics or, if you want to come back here, that's fine too. Re-reading has charms of its own.
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> And see you soon, too.
> 
> (There is a sequel, yes: Wisp of Red.)


End file.
